Kinetics of esterification of acetic acid with n-amyl alcohol in the presence of Amberlyst-36

The kinetics of esterification of acetic acid with amyl alcohol has been studied in the presence of Amberlyst-36 in its H+ form in a batch reactor. Experimental findings showed that the reaction is controlled by chemical step rather than external and internal mass transfer steps. Experimental data well fitted the kinetic model based on homogeneous reversible reaction. Temperature dependency of the equilibrium constant was found to be K-e = exp(3.25 - 820/T) which indicates that the heat of reaction is 6.81 kJ/mol. It was also shown that the reaction rate can be given as -r(A) = (k(1) + k(1)'C-c) (CACB - CECW/K) where k(1) (L mol(-1) min(-1)) = exp (19.01 - 9620/T) k(1)' (min(-1)) = exp (11.56 - 5990/T) (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.